


Silent Bay: A Life Is Strange horror AU idea

by EHC



Series: AU ideas [2]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Horror AU, inspired by Fatal Frame, inspired by Silent Hill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 08:15:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,624
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19147075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EHC/pseuds/EHC
Summary: Five years after moving to Seattle, Max suddenly recalls the name of her former hometown: Arcadia Bay. She never forgot Chloe but apparently forgot nearly everything else. Why? How? And most importantly, why are her parents so dead-set against her going back to visit her friend?





	Silent Bay: A Life Is Strange horror AU idea

**Author's Note:**

> Just a horror AU idea I had after discovering a horror movie entitled _Polaroid_ , which uses a Polaroid camera as it's main ghost-fighting device. I borrowed elements from _Silent Hill_ and _Fatal Frame_ for this.
> 
> Check out the post [on my Tumblr page](https://ehc-on-ao3.tumblr.com/) if you'd like.

Max Caulfield. Average student. Talented as fuck photographer. Returns to Arcadia Bay to find her best friend, Chloe, who she was forced to abandon when her family moved to Seattle. Sounds simple, right? Except, her parents are dead-set against it. Like, insanely so. Way more than parents being protective, at least, that's what Max thinks. Still, Max is resourceful. So, one morning, instead of her school supplies, Max stuffs her messenger bag full of supplies, camera included, and after getting dropped off at her high school, sneaks away, uses cash to buy a bus ticket, and makes her way South. According to her phone, the trip should take around 5 or so hours, more than long enough get to Arcadia Bay without her parents suspecting anything.

Strangeness #1: the bus doesn't actually go to Arcadia Bay. She has to get off at the closest stop to the town, then walk. She gets plenty of strange looks from others when she asks for directions to Arcadia Bay, enough to make her feel weirded out, but after a quick meal, she starts on her way. She's way too close to Chloe to turn back now.

Outside the diner, a kind man offers her a ride. His name is Samuel and he works as a janitor at Blackwell Academy, Arcadia Bay's private school. Lovely campus with lots of friendly animals, like squirrels, birds, and deer. When Max asks about the students and teachers, Samuel's answer is odd: animals have only one face and it always looks towards the light. People would do well to learn that lesson.

Samuel takes Max to Blackwell Academy and they part ways. Max is fine with her destination: since she doesn't remember much about Arcadia Bay, she decides to ask around here for clues to Chloe's whereabouts and address. Maybe she was a student here? Strangeness #2: no students are in the main building. No faculty or staff, either. All the faculty doors are locked, though the classrooms are all open. Is school out already? But even if it was, why is it so empty?

Max notices a ton of Missing Person flyers around, all for one girl: Rachel Amber. Many are defaced, which saddens Max. Uncertain why, she snaps a photo of one of the flyers and puts it away, then walks outside.

Nightfall rolls around much quicker than she anticipated. As empty as the campus feels, it's downright scary now. Not to mention the fog that starts to roll in. Damn, what's with this weather? Thank dog she has her hoodie on. Max sees a nearby building that has some lights on and figures she'll investigate there, too, before trying to find a hotel but something stops her. Movement. In the thick fog. Between her and the building. Instinct has her turning away, maybe to hide in the campus building, but there's more movement coming from that building, too. She hurries to the parking lot, hoping beyond hope to find Samuel there.

Strangeness #3: Max finds Samuel's car but it's in bad shape. Flat tire, dirt covering the windows, like it hasn't been driven in months. Which is impossible since she was just in it an hour ago. But no time to think about that now. Something is approaching her. Max stumbles backwards as a misshapen figure shambles towards her. Max is freaking out when out of the blue, a beat up pickup truck barrels into the lot and brakes near Max. The driver hurries Max inside and together, they peel away.

The driver is, of course, Chloe, who is both elated and pissed that Max is here. Why the fuck did she come back to this shit hole when she actually managed to escape? Max reveals her memories are Swiss cheese (phone numbers, addresses, most everything is fragmented at best) but she never forgot Chloe. As soon as she recalled the name of her former home town, she had to come back. For her.

What happens next? I have some ideas:

  * Chloe reveals that she's been searching all around this fucking town for Rachel, her girlfriend. They swore to one another that they'd finally escape together but she disappeared 6 months ago. Everyone else may have given up on her but Chloe knows, just knows, that Rachel's still around somewhere.
  * Max withdraws her photo of Rachel's missing person poster and, to her horror, realizes the photo is different. Rachel's face is crying, desperate, and all the text has been replaced by nonsensical phrases, though one thing does stand out: RACHEL IN THE DARK ROOM. She and Chloe are freaked but this is also a possible clue. Chloe begs for Max's help, who agrees.
  * The next morning, Chloe takes Max to Two Whales for breakfast. They eat, talk a bit more. Max reveals that her parents fought tooth and nail to keep her from coming back, though they never explained their reasons. Max suddenly realizes that she hasn't received a call or a text from them and checks her phone. Strangeness #4: there's nothing from her parents. At all. But three messages from an unknown number. Except they're all blank. Max, remembering what happened with the poster, snaps a photo of the messages. Once it's developed, both Chloe and Max are shocked by what it reveals.
  * Chloe takes Max to the junkyard, hoping that Max's magic camera will reveal more clues about Rachel's whereabouts. Unfortunately, an unnatural fog rolls in, plunging Chloe and Rachel's old hideout into twilight. A weird creature attacks but before they're killed, Max accidentally presses the shutter button on her camera, snapping a photo of the creature, which vanishes. The fog rapidly dissipates.
  * The two notice that every time they look at the photo of the creature, it shifts position. They theorize that it's trapped in the confines of the photo and is trying to find a way out. Chloe breaks out a cigarette lighter and burns the photo to ash, destroying the creature. Both feel something in the environment itself shift.
  * At Max's suggestion, the two head to Blackwell. Max hopes to snap some photos and possibly get clues here. They make their way to the dorms (the building that had lights on the previous evening) and bump into Kate, who seems to know more about what's going on in Arcadia Bay. The three talk and share info. Max and Chloe ask her to join them in their search and for her own protection but she declines. She has to stay: her faith is the only reason the dorm is safe and she must pray nightly to keep the creatures at bay. The other students rely on her for their continued survival. When Max asks how long she's been doing this, Kate reveals she doesn't remember.
  * Night falls and it's too late to head back to Chloe's house, so they have to stay in the dorms with Kate and the others. Strangeness #5: the scattered students [insert your faves here] all remember going to class like everything is normal, but once the final bell rings at 4:00 PM, they suddenly recall where they are. None of them remember how long they've been in Arcadia Bay or Blackwell but do know that there used to be quite a few more students than there is now, presumably taken/eaten by those creatures.
  * Everyone has tried to leave at some point but because they're stuck in that weird time looped amnesia, they never remember to try sooner than 4:00 PM and can't make it out of the town's borders before night falls. Kate is partially immune to this effect but instead of trying to escape, opts to keep the dorms stocked on supplies as best she can throughout the day, knowing that no one can do so in the evening without getting attacked. Thankfully, since that weird loop also includes lunch in the cafeteria, no one is in danger of starving.
  * Max snaps a photo of the whole group of students/survivors. The resulting photo is...
  * When Max reveals she's originally from Arcadia Bay but moved to Seattle, it shocks the fuck out of everyone. She escaped? HOW?! She doesn't know. She doesn't remember. But when she says she's come back for Chloe, everyone laments, with a couple of people raging. Max is stuck now. She has a reason to stay in Arcadia Bay, so now she's stuck. Chloe has a reason to stay, Rachel, so she's stuck. Same with Kate. Same with [insert people here] for their individual reasons. And whatever is keeping them from accomplishing their goals is preventing them from escaping. A couple of them are about to get violent before Kate shouts for their attention. She needs silence for her prayers; otherwise, they're all dead. Everyone goes quiet and, as Kate prays, most of them try to get some sleep.
  * (If this were a horror movie, monsters would break in right about now and kill many of them, with the survivors blaming Max, then probably try to capture her to sacrifice to the town for their own survival. However, this isn't a horror movie, so we'll kindly skip that part.)
  * Perhaps there's a moment here where one of them approaches Max while everyone else is sleeping and asks her to get a message to her family when she manages to escape again. She's convinced she's not going to make it. But Max, she's done so once. She'll do it again.
  * The next morning, Max and Chloe awake to find it's just them and Kate. Everyone else is already in class. No, it doesn't make sense because it's too early for classes, and Saturday, but Arcadia Bay doesn't follow logic. She cautions the two not to enter the main campus during “school hours” as they'll likely get shuffled into class by well-meaning teachers to not be tardy, and find themselves actual students, trapped in Blackwell's vicious cycle. Chloe jokes that’s a fate worse than death.
  * Max reveals her photo of Rachel to Kate, and also explains how she destroyed one of the creatures earlier. There is a way to fight back, after all. Kate is elated as this will give the others hope and promises to look for another instant film camera as they already know phone cameras don't work. The two exchange phone #s to keep in contact.
  * Kate goes her own way while Max and Chloe continue their investigation. Max snaps a photo of Rachel's old room but it reveals nothing. She snaps another photo of the boys' dorm hall and notices something off about one of the doors. They go to investigate Room 111 and are attacked again by a creature within the room. They're able to banish it as well, though Chloe is hurt in the process.
  * Chloe burns this photo as well and the pair feels that weird shifting effect from before, except it seems stronger this time. Chloe hopes it means that every monster they destroy weakens the town's hold on everyone. Maybe everyone can escape if they banish all the monsters!
  * The two search the room for physical clues and Max snaps a photo for metaphysical ones as well. They uncover a name, Prescott, the apparent previous occupant of the room. Max's photo isn't of the room at all but appears blank. It's only when they go outside into the sunlight that the photo changes, revealing the exterior of an old, dilapidated barn.
  * Chloe takes them back to her house, where she breaks out a first aid kit to treat her injuries. Max helps. They talk about everything they've found so far. Chloe takes something for the pain and passes out.
  * Max texts Kate and explains what happened and what they found. Kate replies that room 111 belonged to Nathan Prescott and should've been one of the student survivors but now doesn't recall seeing him around. She also recalls there was a huge party at the Prescott barn about 6 months ago. Max asks for the location. Kate promises to ask around and tell her ASAP.
  * Afterwards, Max checks her phone. Still nothing from her parents. But texting does work, right? She texts them instead but receives no response.
  * Max has a strange thought and texts the unknown number, asking for directions to the Prescott barn. She receives an empty message in response. Max tries to take a photo but is out of film. Thank God it isn't an emergency! She puts in a fresh pack of film and takes the photo, which turns out to be numbers 45.496698 and -123.894625, which doesn't mean anything to Max. She texts these numbers to Kate, explaining it might have something to do with the barn but doesn't know what they mean. Kate doesn't know, either, but she'll ask Warren or Brooke after class, as they might know.
  * Near 4:00, Chloe wakes up. She's upset that Max let her sleep so long but Max tells her she was hurt and needed the rest. Kate texts back: the numbers are coordinates. Max pulls up the numbers on a map app but it refuses to load. Chloe tries and gets something. Max quickly snaps a photo with her camera. A moment later, Chloe's phone sparks, smokes, and dies. Chloe and Max are shocked but Max's photo has the map. Chloe can get them there.
  * Chloe rushes to leave right away. Max tries to stop her, saying it's close to dark and really dangerous. Chloe is too close to finding Rachel, though, and is unable to wait. Max tells her she only has one camera and only so much film left. Chloe pauses, then bolts upstairs, returning a moment later with her father's old instant camera and a spare pack of film. They're as armed as they're going to be and Chloe isn't going to wait another day, so Max joins her in the truck and together, they race to the Prescott barn.



What happens next? I have no idea. Hadn't thought that far ahead. But, food for thought:

  * The people of Arcadia Bay are also stuck in a loop, the ones that are left, anyway. They go about the echoes of their former lives and, unless someone thinks about it really hard, no one notices. This is why Joyce and David never appear at Chloe's house. Joyce is always found at the diner, David always at Blackwell. Always.
  * Who or what was Samuel? A fragment of the town wanting to snare Max back in? A spirit trying to warn her of the dangers of the night? Both?
  * How did Max escape? Why don't her parents text her? Did she actually escape?
  * Why did Chloe show up exactly on time, when Max needed help the most?
  * Chloe said Rachel disappeared 6 months ago. There was a party at the barn 6 months ago. But time is weird in Arcadia Bay. Was it really 6 months? Was it much longer? Was it much shorter?
  * What do Max's other photos reveal?
  * Who or what is Kate? Just a selfless Christian who wants to do the right thing? A literal angel?
  * What do Chloe and Max find at the barn?
  * What is Rachel's role, if any, in the horror that is Arcadia Bay?
  * Once Rachel is rescued, can everyone escape?
  * What happens if Max snaps a photo of the campus building and burns that photo? What if she snaps a photo of the entire town from the lighthouse and burns that?
  * At the end, Max takes a celebratory photo of herself, Chloe, and Rachel. What does it reveal? Does she show it to the others or does she hide it?



I give permission to anyone out there to write this if you so desire. I doubt I’m getting to it this year.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Polaroids can not scream](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20373391) by [simpletextadventure](https://archiveofourown.org/users/simpletextadventure/pseuds/simpletextadventure)




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